Arizona-Utah game blog: Carey leads Wildcats to victory

Arizona picked up its first conference win of the season, knocking off a red-hot Utah team 35-24 at Arizona Stadium on Saturday night.

The offense sputtered at times, but Ka’Deem Carey, after a late-game fumble, came to the rescue with one of the best performances of his All-American career. He topped off the scoring with a 44-yard run with 1:30 to go.

Carey finishes with 236 yards on a school-record 40 carries.

Arizona improves to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-12, with two winnable games up next — at Colorado and vs. Cal, the two worst teams in the league. Utah, coming off a win over Stanford, drops to 4-3 and 1-3.

Check back later for postgame coverage …

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Ballgame. Ka’Deem Carey goes 44 yards for a touchdown on third-and-5 to give Arizona a 35-24 lead. He has a school-record 40 carries for 236 yards, the second-highest total of his career.

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Big decision: Utah goes for a 40-yard field goal on fourth-and-5 … and Andy Phillips, who was 11 of 11 entering the game, hits it wide left, his second miss of the game. The Cats take over with less than four minutes left, trying to run out the clock on Utah, like USC did on them last week.

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Postscript to Carey’s fumble: The yardage on the play moves him past Hubie Oliver to No. 5 in UA career history (3,098).

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You (almost) never have to worry about Ka’Deem Carey and ball security, but he coughs it up to Utah on the UA 39 in a critical situation. That was his 36th run of the game.

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Utah chips away at the lead with 44-yd field goal by Andy Phillips to make the score 28-24 with 7:11 to go. Arizona defense came up with some big plays on the last drive, though, including a pass break-up by William Parks on third-and-13 from the UA 27.

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It’s a slugfest. Arizona’s defense is holding its ground, although the Utes have good field position, at their 43 with 11:03 to play. Utah has only 249 total yards, but one play could swing this game.

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Nate Phillips having such a good night catching the ball, he gets back his punt return job he lost after the opening game (and Johnny Jackson’s two muffed punt catches made that decision easy).

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It’s Nate Phillips to the rescue. The 5-7 freshman receiver makes a tough 36-yard sideline catch (while getting interfered with) and then follows up with a sliding 7-yard reception in the end zone. B.J. Denker scrambles and runs it in for a two-point conversion to put UA up 28-21 with 13:32 to play.

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Johnny Jackson muffs his second punt catch of the game … but the Wildcats recover this time. The third quarter ends. Hang on.

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Back-to-back sacks for the Cats. What happened to the shootout I expected?

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Arizona keeps its drive alive on a third-down pass-interference penalty on Utah that moves the ball to the Utes 36. And then, nada. Arizona ends up going for it on fourth-and-10 instead of trying a 53-yard field goal (where have you gone, Steve McLaughlin?) and B.J. Denker scrambles to buy time but has to throw incomplete.

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Ka’Deem Carey with about 3 minutes left in the third quarter has a career-high 31 rushes.

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Sione Tuihalamaka comes up with a big hit on a third-down stop to fire up the crowd, but Utah pins Arizona at its 5 after a punt. Cats need Super Ka’Deem right here.

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Arizona needed something on offense, even a few first downs would have nice to stop the momentum, but the Wildcats look like they did at Washington (discombobulated) and go three-and-out. It’s anybody’s game at 21-20, but it feels like the Utes are ready to step on the gas pedal.

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And it’s all turned quickly. Arizona gives the ball back to Utah after Ka’Deem Carey can get only one yard on fourth-and-2 from the Utah 46, and the Utes strike on the next play with a 55-yard touchdown pass from Adam Schulz to a Sean Fitzgerald, wide-open down the middle of the field.

Utah converts the PAT for a 21-20 lead with 9:08 to go in the third quarter.

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Utah punches it in on a 1-yard run by Kelvin York after getting the turnover from Arizona. The Utes pull within 20-14 with 10:39 to play in the third quarter, and don’t you hate how that missed PAT is looming large now?

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Arizona’s first turnover of the night — a muffed punt catch by Johnny Jackson — sets up Utah at the UA 17 early in the third quarter. The Cats were pretty much in control of the game until right that moment.

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Adam Schulz still in for quarterback for the Utes early in the second half, but RB Bubba Poole is back into the game. For Arizona, S Tra’Mayne Bondurant is still out after leaving the game in the first quarter.

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B.J. Denker has only 85 passing yards, but he’s 11 of 15 passing and the offense has 244 total yards. Ka’Deem Carey has 102 yards on 19 carries.

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First half ends with the Wildcats in good shape. Utah’s Andy Phillips misses wide left from 42 yards on final play of half after starting the season 11 of 11. Arizona up 20-7.

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Utah gets the ball back with 1:29 to go before halftime, starting at UA’s 45. The Utes pull Travis Wilson (3 of 9, 15 yards, 2 INTs) for Adam Schulz, as Wilson has an apparent hand injury. Big drive, as Arizona gets the ball to start the second half.

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Impressive 13-play, 72-yard drive by Arizona to take a 20-7 lead, capped by a 1-yard run by B.J. Denker, who twists into the end zone. Yes, 20-7. Jake Smith’s PAT was blocked, his second miss in the past three games. There’s 5:48 to go before halftime.

Ka’Deem Carey, with a 3-yard run to hit 3,000 rushing yards for his career. He’s the sixth player in school history to reach that level.

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Travis Wilson throws a second consecutive interception, throwing deep into double coverage, with no chance to completing the pass to anyone other than CB Shaquille Richardson, who makes an over-the-shoulder pick to get the ball back for the Cats.

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Utah starting running back Bubba Poole is out of the game, undergoing concussion tests on the sideline.

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Arizona needs a playmaking defense, and it gets it with Utah backed up in its own territory.

Travis Wilson, spins out of a sack attempt by Reggie Gilbert (luckily for Arizona) and then throws a pass right to linebacker Marquis Flowers, who grabs it and goes 14 yards for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 14:11 to go in the second quarter.

That’s the fourth pick-six of the season for Arizona.

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First quarter ends, game tied at 7. Utah has 93 rushing yards. Cats have 107.

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Arizona marches to the Utah 2, facing fourth-and-1. Give the ball to Ka’Deem Carey, right? B.J. Denker probably had that option but kept the ball instead and was thrown for a loss.

Quick two cents: Not the best of reads by Denker. Cats just needed to give the ball to Carey. That’s like giving the ball to Hassan Adams for the final shot when Salim Stoudamire is on your team. (Regional final memories, Illinois, 2005.)

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Take a Ka’Deem Carey 65-yard touchdown run off the board. He sprinted a long way for nothing, as officials bring it back, saying there was a whistle before the snap because the game clock needed to be fixed.

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Utah doing a nice job on the ground against Arizona, and then the Utes tie the game with a 2-yard pass from Travis Wilson to Anthony Denham, who beats Shaq Richardson to the corner of the end zone. It’s tied at 7. Ready for a shootout?

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Arizona Spur safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant gets helped off the field with 8:13 to go in the quarter. Possible concussion? The Cats will be without both of their starting “up’ safeties, including Bandit Jared Tevis.

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The Wildcats are sharp on their opening drive, starting with a 30-yard burst from Ka’Deem Carey to start things off, followed by good decision-making on the read-option by B.J. Denker.

His 16-yard carry moves the ball to the Utah 10 and he takes it on one play later, making a Utah defender miss at the line of scrimmage and going into the end zone standing up.

Arizona 7, Utah 0 with 9:17 to go in the first quarter.

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Arizona catches an early break as Utes have a punt attempt surrounded inside the UA 5, but the ball bounces into the end zone for a touchback. Arizona won’t have to start its first drive buried.

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Pretty easy call for Utah to go for it on fourth-and-1 at UA 46. Utes use their edge up front to gash the Wildcats for a 7-yard run.

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Arizona wins the toss and defers. First thing to watch for is how Arizona’s defensive front holds up against a big, physical Utah line. Second thing to watch for: How sophomore safety Will Parks plays in place of injured Jared Tevis.

There are no other changes in the defensive lineup as the game begins…

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Arizona will be wearing blue helmets, blue jerseys and blue pants tonight, going all-blue for the first time since the 2012 season-opener, a win over Toledo in coach Rich Rodriguez’s first game.

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Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins is taking his official visit to campus this weekend. He tweeted a picture of himself Saturday afternoon (I guess walk-on freshman QB Adam Friederichsen is going to have to give up his number next season.)

One of the encouraging signs the last time the Arizona Wildcats played was the production of the team’s (somewhat) experienced receivers.

Senior Terrence Miller made six catches for a team-high 76 yards. Junior Garic Wharton had touchdown catches of 45 and 28 yards. Sophomore David Richards used his 6-4 height to stretch for a 9-yard reception in the back of the end zone.

Richards was playing in his second game of the season after missing the non-conference schedule while recovering from offseason foot surgery.

“You can be a little bit off on some of the throws, and a big guy can make you look good,” UA coach Rich Rodriguez said. “Having David back, having a bigger body, helps.”

You can’t teach height, and you can’t teach speed, which is what Wharton has.

But you can teach the receivers how to beat press coverage, which is what defenses are doing Arizona, daring the Wildcats to do something other than hand the ball to Ka’Deem Carey.

“When you get a lot of separation from the wide receiver aspect that makes my job easier. They’re getting better at it, getting off press man and giving me a window to throw the football.

“Garic is a weapon and we have to get the ball in his hands. He will do some special things.”

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Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said his team missed as many tackles against USC as it did in the first four games combined.

“It was really disappointing,” Rodriguez said. “We didn’t get off blocks well. It wasn’t like we were getting jukes or anything like that. We just weren’t wrapping our arms and didn’t show the same kind of passion we showed earlier.”

The Cats’ task in the running game will be to stop Utah’s Bubba Poole, who has 441 yards on 85 carries.

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PREDICTION

Arizona enters the game as a four-point favorite, despite Utah riding momentum after its 27-21 upset of fifth-ranked Stanford last week.

Any prediction I’ve seen of the Cats winning this game is banking on that momentum working against the Utes, that they will suffer a letdown, a big, fat hangover.

That’s possible. It certainly works that way in college football at times. You’d like to believe that teams max out their emotional efficiency every week, but that rarely happens.

Utah is coming off one of the biggest wins in school history and has been swallowing praise all week.

To assume that’s poisonous, though, is a leap I’m not willing to take. Emotion aside, the Utes are the bigger, more physical team … and I’m holding off belief in the Arizona passing game until I see it work well two games in a row.

Utah’s five games this season against FBS-level competition have each been decided by a touchdown or less. Here’s one more: